MINUTES OF THE REGULAR BOARD OF ALDERMEN MEETING
City Hall October 2, 2006
Council Chambers 7:00 p.m.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
ROLL CALL
PRESENT: Mayor Kelly,
Alderman Marshall, Alderman Leahy, Alderwoman Krewson, Alderman Kramer,
Alderman Robertson, Alderman Wynn, Alderman Cross.
City
Attorney Albrecht, City Clerk/Administrator Seemayer and Director of Planning
and Development/Asst. City Administrator Denton.
ABSENT: Alderwoman
Clements, Executive Secretary Williams and City Treasurer Reynders.
CONSIDERATION AND APPROVAL OF
THE AGENDA OF THE REGULAR BOARD OF ALDERMEN MEETING OF OCTOBER 2, 2006
Motion was made by Alderman
Robertson, second by Alderman Leahy to amend the Agenda of the Regular Board of
Aldermen Meeting of October 2, 2006 by adding a proclamation for James Joseph
Balestreri and an executive session/personnel and real estate matters. All in favor none opposed.
Motion was made by Alderman
Leahy, second by Alderman Robertson to approve and adopt the Agenda of the
Regular Board of Aldermen Meeting of October 2, 2006 as amended. All in favor none opposed.
CONSIDERATION AND APPROVAL OF
THE MINUTES OF THE REGULAR BOARD OF ALDERMEN MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 18, 2006
Motion was made by Alderman
Kramer, second by Alderman Marshall to approve and adopt the Minutes of the
Regular Board of Aldermen Meeting of September 18, 2006 as presented. Roll call:
Alderman Marshall, yes; Alderman Leahy, abstain; Alderwoman Krewson,
yes; Alderman Kramer, yes; Alderman Robertson, yes; Alderman Wynn, yes;
Alderman Cross, yes.
BIDS – None
HEARING OF ANY MATTER OF PUBLIC
INTEREST UPON REQUEST OF ANY PERSON PRESENT
Chad Weston – a resident at 2529
High School Drive came before the Board and expressed concern about flooding in
his yard. He stated that the house next
door to his house was torn down and rebuilt by Kingbridge Homes and since then
he has experienced flooding in his yard and his basement leaks. The builder has tried to fix the problem as
cheap as possible and it did not work.
He does not understand how Kingbridge Homes is continuing to receive
permits to build new homes when they have not fixed the problems that they have
already caused.
Alderman Marshall asked if there
is any way they could go back to Kingbridge Homes and request the original
agreement.
Mayor Kelly stated that he would
look into it and get back to Mr. Weston.
It is something they will have to look at as they approve housing
permits. They will have to address
those issues in the initial stages of the process instead of waiting until it
is over to realize there is a problem.
Alderman Kramer stated that the
City has a grading and erosion ordinance in place, but he is not sure if it was
in place prior to the construction of the home. He asked about the options and estimates outlined in the
information distributed by Mr. Weston.
Mr. Weston stated that the three
estimates are estimates he obtained to see what it would take to solve the
problem. It is different opinions on
how to fix the problem.
Alderman Marshall stated that the
Architectural Review Board could possibly look into the drainage issues because
it directly impacts the amount of water coming off the impervious
surfaces. You cannot redirect water
into someone else’s yard.
Alderman Kramer stated that one
of the things that a builder is challenged with doing is matching up with the
existing sewer lines. That presents a
challenge to them as to how high they can create the basement flooring. Starting from that premise whether or not they
can raise the basement flooring and still keep in touch with the existing
ability to drain into the sewer line.
The builders like to sell the nine-foot or higher pours, so to have that
deep of a pour in the basement and still have the drainage system line up with
the sewer system that is why the cone, as Mr. Weston described it, is coming up
out of the ground. It presents a
hardship on the adjacent neighbors and creates a situation of need for the
builder to alleviate that problem. He
would think that with the City’s assistance, and with the builder doing some
additional work that will cost, the situation could be resolved.
Alderman Cross stated that there
is another issue on High School Drive involving Kingbridge Homes and a
driveway. She asked if the builder had
to provide a survey.
Mayor Kelly responded no.
Alderman Cross suggested that
they look into requiring surveys.
Mayor Kelly stated that the City
has to be careful about getting involved with those types of issues. How will disputes be settled? Property issues have to go through civil
court. If a mistake is made and the
City approved a survey then the City is at fault, which would be a liability
for the City.
Alderman Cross stated that they
could encourage a meeting between the builder and the nearby property owners
when a home is going to be torn down and rebuilt. Many of the problems on High School Drive happened because there
was no communication between the builder and the neighbor.
Alderman Leahy stated that part
of the notification issues of the ARB and arrangements for building permits
helps to get that discussion going. As
for the survey issues, how does the City then inspect that the builder is
building properly if nobody knows where the real dimensions are. If the house is placed in a location and the
plans calls for different things to be done in relationship to that house,
physically he could be measuring from a dimension that throws him outside his
boundary lines. It is rather difficult
for the City to do a decent inspection if there is no full spot survey that
states the points that they need to work within.
Mayor Kelly responded that would
be putting the City at a huge risk because it becomes the City’s mistake and
not the builder’s.
Alderman Leahy requested that
City Administrator Seemayer bring the Mayor up-to-speed on the email traffic
that took place between him and Mr. Seemayer for the past year on the
matter. Mr. Weston has alluded to some
prior agreements that the City, the builder and he had made. Mr. Weston extended the courtesy of not
interfering with the home closing with the understanding that certain things
would be done which is documented in the emails that were created at that
time.
INTRODUCTIONS, READINGS, AND PASSAGE OF BILLS AND
RESOLUTIONS
Resolution No. 937 – St. Louis County Municipal League Meeting
Mayor Kelly stated that the
November 16th MML meeting will be held at Brentwood City Hall in the Council
Chambers. Following the meeting hors
d’oeuvres, beer and wine will be served.
Motion was made by Alderman
Marshall, second by Alderman Robertson to approve Resolution No. 937, which
allows them to serve beer and wine in City Hall on November 16th. Roll call:
Alderman Marshall, yes; Alderman Leahy, yes; Alderwoman Krewson, yes;
Alderman Kramer, yes; Alderman Robertson, yes; Alderman Wynn, no; Alderman
Cross, yes.
Proclamation – James Joseph Balestreri
Motion was made by Alderman
Leahy, second by Alderman Marshall to approve the proclamation for James Joseph
Balestreri from Troop 361 in recognition of him earning the rank of Eagle Scout
Award. All in favor none opposed.
Alderman Leahy stated that James
did a project with the Brentwood Parks and Recreation Department where he built
eight bat boxes that will be installed at Memorial Park and along the new
trail.
ACCOUNTS AGAINST THE CITY
Motion was made by Alderman
Marshall, second by Alderman Leahy to approve the warrant list dated
10/2/06. All in favor none opposed.
REPORTS OF COMMITTEES AND DEPARTMENT HEADS:
Mayor’s Report
Executive Session
Mayor Kelly stated an executive
session/personnel and real estate matters would be held following the meeting.
Presentation
Alderman Marshall presented a
check on behalf of the City to the Boy Scouts Troop 339 in the amount of
$2,000.00. The Troop was one of the
beneficiaries for this year’s golf tournament.
Ron Blair – 8718 Florence came
before the Board and stated that he is the Scout Master for Troop 339 and they
will use the funds for summer camp, equipment, etc.
NIMS
Mayor Kelly stated that in August
he attended the meetings for the emergency management certification that is
required and he passed the test. He
requested that the alderpersons look into becoming certified as soon as possible. If there were a storm such as the one that
occurred in St. Louis in July of this year, the elected officials would need to
be certified for a city to be eligible for federal reimbursement.
Public Safety Committee
– No further report
Public Works Committee
– No report
Director of Planning and
Development – No report
Ways and Means Committee
– No report
City Attorney – No
report
City Clerk/Administrator
– No report
Excise Commissioner
– No report
Library – No report
Municipal League –
No report
Communication – No
further report
Insurance Committee
– No report
Historical Society
– No report
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Updates
Alderman Marshall stated he has
spoken to MSD regarding the Rosalie/Eulalie sewer project. It will not start in the fall of 2006 as
originally planned instead it will start in 2007.
Alderman Marshall stated the
Rosalie/Eulalie trail is almost ready to be paved and it will probably be
finished in a couple of weeks.
Mayor Kelly stated there are some
concerns about the path and the crosswalk at the turn coming over the bridge by
Oak Tree Park. He does not know if they
need to put a stop sign there for the traffic coming into the neighborhood as
well as trimming the trees. That needs
to be addressed as soon as possible.
Alderman Cross responded that
they would discuss it in the Public Works Committee meeting.
Alderman Kramer asked if
notification would be given to residents for the Comprehensive Plan public
session.
Asst. City Administrator Denton
responded that notification will be put in the Pulse Newspaper, on the website
and on BTV-10.
Mayor Kelly stated the public
session would be held at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers on Monday, October
16th.
NEW BUSINESS
Ward 3 Meeting
Alderman Leahy stated that a Ward
3 meeting would be held on Tuesday, October 24th at 7:00 p.m. in the
Council Chambers.
Recess
A recess was called at 7:40 p.m.
for an executive session/personnel and real estate matters.
Executive Session
Motion was made by Alderwoman
Krewson, second by Alderman Wynn to enter into executive session on personnel
and real estate matters at 7:45 p.m.
All in favor none opposed.
After discussion on personnel and
real estate matters, motion was made by Alderman Wynn, second by Alderman
Robertson to return to open session at 8:07 p.m. All in favor none opposed.
Motion was made by Alderman
Leahy, second by Alderman Wynn to adjourn the meeting at 8:08 p.m. All in favor none opposed.
Pat
Kelly, Mayor
Attest:
Chris Seemayer, City Clerk